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Matt Lewis

The culture war is over

Predictably, conservatives tended to ignore this inconvenient truth about the culture, persuading themselves that winning elections — and ostensibly passing conservative laws (though they did that less frequently) — were what mattered. (Or maybe it was that they convinced themselves that because they could win elections — because the American public supported their politics — it implied a “silent majority” of Americans were still traditional, salt-of-the-earth types.)

In the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, Republicans did quite well electorally. Simultaneously, however, our society became coarser, more permissive, less traditional, and more socially liberal. And while politicians won elections, our young people turned to Hollywood for guidance. For every Republican elected, there were 10 films or songs (many of them quite good, actually) selling sex, drugs, and violence. Of course, this all comes down to that clichéd line about the breakdown of the family unit. It’s clichéd because it’s true.

Now: In the wake of the House GOP’s capitulation on the Senate-passed fiscal cliff bill (which does nothing to rein in entitlement spending), some prominent conservatives are beginning to notice that today’s electoral and public policy defeats are a natural byproduct of having lost the culture war.

Conservatism in general is dead. The Repubs wanted to oust the social cons to get elected because “everyone hates socons.” Now the Repubs will want to oust the ficons to get elected, because everyone is going to hate the “ficons.” Republicanism has become opportunism because our politicians are incompetent at selling their message to the American people.

You know what doesn’t care about how ‘stylish’ or ‘cool’ something is? Economic math. When the producers money runs out (already happened) AND the fiction that it hasn’t is apparent (soon), then the system will collapse into hyper-inflation and subsistence living (at best). Maybe Hollywood can convince people that’s cool.

What a sad feeble attempt to gloss over all of American History. I suppose there was no culture war when arguing the Constitution and that pesky slavery problem. And the recent unpleasantness AKA the War of Northern Aggression, that had nothing to do with cultural beliefs. The Gilded Age, there was no push back from anarchists and union men over the proper way to run a government or business. Ignore Leon Czolgosz,that man never existed. In the 1920’s no one ever did burney (blow), or had an abortion, or proclaimed themselves an atheist. Nope, none of these issues ever existed before the 1960, and now they’ve been finally been decided, and the conservatives have lost.
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Yet another provincial urban elitist his convictions validated by his ignorance.

Look at the garbage on network TV. Sex, violence, gore. It’s disgusting. I suppose you could get inured to it after awhile, but why would you want to. It’s beyond me, the sensitivities and sensibilities, or lack of them, in those who watch that stuff and enjoy it, or can even tolerate it.

Also, if one takes a look at the entertainment industry, it is wrought with very typical stuff:

“Middle class” worship; plots that contain the EEEEEEEVIL business magnate or tycoon, EEEEEEEVIL corporations trying to raid the public trust, EEEEEEEEEVIL, mean-spirited Christians who live in constant hate of everything, and the poor “little guy” fending all of this EEEEEEEVIL off.

You know what doesn’t care about how ‘stylish’ or ‘cool’ something is? Economic math. When the producers money runs out (already happened) AND the fiction that it hasn’t is apparent (soon), then the system will collapse into hyper-inflation and subsistence living (at best). Maybe Hollywood can convince people that’s cool.

michaelo on January 3, 2013 at 2:16 PM

“Hollywood” will just try to convince people that everything wrong with our country and civil society is “unregulated capitalism,” greed, racism, bigotry, Christians, “flyover country,” Big Oil, “rich” people, etc.

The low-information, apolitical, and aliterate voters will believe it, never questioning why it’s alright for “Hollywood” Lefties to live one way and insist on the proles living another. Please see: Barbra Streiand, Micheal Moore, Tom Morello, Al Gore, Matt Damon, Oliver Stone, etc.

There needs to a better coordinated effort amongst the makers to impose biblical conservative morality upon the takers in this country.

That is the definition of small government conservativism.

Pablo Honey on January 3, 2013 at 2:17 PM

Isn’t there a direct cause and effect between government financed welfare that funds and so encourages single motherhood, and 95% of the gun-related gang violence in the inner cities? We create fatherless children who then, lacking any strong male figure guidance, go out and shoot each other. We do that through our social policy. We do that. We are the authors of that carnage.

Conservatives are defenders of individual liberties and nature’s law as we are able to observe it, and are the sentinels of these liberties as they are recognized in our Constitution.

For example:

When a conservative declares that he is unwaveringly opposed to abortion, its because he has observed that what is contained within the mother’s womb is an individual human being, completely deserving of all the rights and privileges of any other citizen of the United States. The conservative expects citizens to act in a responsible way when it comes to human sexuality – he is not a prude, but he also knows that actions have consequences and that killing human beings is something that should not happen in the furtherance of someone’s “right” to sleep with whomever they wish, whenever they wish.

When a conservative declares that he is unwaveringly opposed to gay marriage, it is not out of hate or disgust for persons that are homosexual, it is due to the observation that a) nature designed us a certain way – we are dioecious beings – and that b) we are highly social animals that require a very long period of maturation requiring both the father and mother’s efforts in order to bring a child to adulthood in a healthy and well-adjusted manner.

And so on and so on, ad infinitum.

So, if these over-paid clowns actually want to have a conversation about conservatism, they can start by actually correctly state the conservative’s argument.

Oh, come on — we lost this last one 47 to 51. Stop sniffing into your hankies. We’re still near as dammit a 50/50 nation.

And, anyway, sex, drugs and violence are neither liberal nor conservative, in the legislative sense. How why would a cultural fondness for sex, drugs and violence convince people to vote for a nannying, intrusive state?

Conservatives have lost the culture war becauase they put their faith into un-principled men who TALKED about small government to win votes – but who did exactly the opposite once elected.

They NEVER held these men to the promises they made. They made “excuses” for why certain things couldn’t have been done. They continued to elect the “lesser of two evils” and, over the course of 50 years – that practice only pushed the nation farther to the left. Conservatives STILL refuse to acknowledge that G.W. Bush and the Republican Congress (from 2000 to 2006) are primarily responsible for the economic meltdown because they KNEW Freddie and Fannie were problematic but did not have the courage to stand up to the Democratic MINORITY and force changes. Conservatives still complaing about Obama’s spending – ignoring that, prior to ObamaCare – it was G.W. Bush and the Republicans who brought us the biggest expansion of the entitlement state since LBJ – MEDICARE PART D – and they gave that to us … UNFUNDED. All of that – all of that – was simply added to this nation’s debt.

Kudos to the Dims. At least when they got total control – THEY CONTROLLED. They rammed ObamaCare down our throats like a horsepill – they never flinched. Our side? Couldn’t even muster the courage to cut government a little when we had control

Kudos to the Dims. At least when they got total control – THEY CONTROLLED. They rammed ObamaCare down our throats like a horsepill – they never flinched. Our side? Couldn’t even muster the courage to cut government a little when we had control

Republicans have a serious image problem. It has been officially painted that we want to control people’s behavior all because of our politicians’ poor communication skills and truly wacky statements.

I don’t care what a politician thinks about gay marriage or abortion, just don’t look at me to fund it! Leave me alone and I will leave you alone… Live and let live. Maybe that doesn’t make me a Republican then?

Democrats really are the ones about controlling behavior- guns, food, cars, money, sex, healthcare, religion, and no Republican politician has been able to make that argument.